Pirelli

[Sonic]

I thought we should have a place to discuss those black round things that go under the car as 2011's victors may owe their success to their ability to adapt to the new rubber.

So far the news seems to be as expected; the Pirelli's degrade quickly and then plateaux. IMHO this is GREAT! Alonso was talking a one lap banzi window and then a 2 second drop off, whilst Lewis has indicated with the tyres as they stand a one stop race is out of the question. Bring it on baby.

[Tazio]

Do they have every compound that P's is going to bring into all races?
I respect the Boss's opinion but until he uses them in the 2011 challenger he really can't speak from a position of authority. Other than Fred have there been other comments about the degradation characteristics of the P's?
Plus we all know what a liar Fred and Ferrari are. Damn cheats they are.
For all we know Fred could pit on lap one ,and go the entire race distance while performing card tricks and other displays of his expertise in magic tricks.
The freakin’ guy can probably engage every button on the steering wheel with telepathy

[SGWilko]

The trick with the new tyres is going to be optimising contact patch, on order to ensure that wear is even across the whole tyre, minimise graining and even out the heat build-up in order not to blister the tyre.

If the trend appears to be 1 lap of good performance followed by a significant drop off, then you need a car that can swiftly get the tyre to temp, but that does not then work it too hard - and thus nurture the performance over the life of the tyre. This will be key in qualifying.

Then you will have a process of managing the degradation. The one good aspect of the Pirelli trait, is that a guy that pits for new tyres potentially only has one lap of benefit from better performance before the anticipated drop off.

Now, if you can design your car to minimise degradation of the tyre, and thus optimise its performance in the 'drop off' period, you can potentially pit later, having relied on your ability to maximise the one lap qualifying performance (assuming you start on the front row that is).

Here is where I see McLaren as the wise team, learning about the tyres on a proven platform, with data that can then be fed to the suspension dept for any adjustments that might be deemed necessary for the 2011 car. These adjustments wont transfer overnight, but they will be able to compare the performance as testing progresses.

I could just be talking b0ll0cks mind....

[Sonic]

I could just be talking b0ll0cks mind....

ROFL!

Personally I think it's witchcraft.

[AndyL]

The only thing I know about these new tyres is that I don't like how the Pirelli logo is printed on them square, rather than curved with the shape of the wheel!

[SGWilko]

The only thing I know about these new tyres is that I don't like how the Pirelli logo is printed on them square, rather than curved with the shape of the wheel!

You mean you want this;

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/13266990

not this;

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/13266986

Now, why would you have differently badged tyres on either side of the car....??????

[jens]

I think this was one of the reasons, why Red Bull had such a massive advantage in several qualifying sessions in 2010 - they were the only ones, who managed to figure out, how to warm those massively hard Bridgestone tyres quickly up. Those 1-second dominations seemed rather unusual in modern high competitive F1, but for 2011 they may be gone.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind more 2010 Montreal type of races with lots of fun with tyres. Also 2009 Australian GP as we may see a repeat of something similar again this year. I remember also in 1997 teams had lot of trouble with tyres on several circuits.

[AndyL]

You mean you want this;

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/13266990

not this;

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/13266986

Now, why would you have differently badged tyres on either side of the car....??????

Looks like the first one's a CG rendering - Renault's artists did it how it ought to look!

[wedge]

I think this was one of the reasons, why Red Bull had such a massive advantage in several qualifying sessions in 2010 - they were the only ones, who managed to figure out, how to warm those massively hard Bridgestone tyres quickly up. Those 1-second dominations seemed rather unusual in modern high competitive F1, but for 2011 they may be gone.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind more 2010 Montreal type of races with lots of fun with tyres. Also 2009 Australian GP as we may see a repeat of something similar again this year. I remember also in 1997 teams had lot of trouble with tyres on several circuits.

RBR6 was just simply supremely quick. Most likely due to aero than tyres eg. EBD. Also there were the odd races in the first of the year where tyre degradation was abnormally high eg. Montreal and China.

McLaren's were tricky to to set up from rake (higher rear ride height than front) and finding the sweet spot. The stiff front end didn't particularly help with Button's ignoramus driving style in quali conditions .

In 1997 Goodyear were shown up by bringing soft tyres that blistered easily in a tyre war with Bridgestone.

[SGWilko]

RBR6 was just simply supremely quick. Most likely due to aero than tyres eg. EBD.

Indeed. RBR had the three tests (they missed the first) to sort out their exhaust configuration relative to the diffuser, whilst hiding what they were doing with painted on exhausts....

Of course, McLaren's F duct took away a lot of attention.......